OSCE PA delegation is visiting Ukraine with the aim to estimate pre-election situation in the context of early presidential elections planned for May 25, 2014.
Ukrainian Party participating in the meeting included Chair of the Permanent Delegation to the OSCE PA Oleh Zarubinskyi, Deputy Chair of the Permanent Delegation to the OSCE PA Mykola Katerynchuk and members of the Permanent Delegation to the OSCE PA Oksana Kaletnyk and Volodymyr Nakonechnyi. The meeting was also attended by Vice-President of the OSCE PA Ilkka Kanerva, Chair of the OSCE PA General Committee on Political Affairs and Security, Head of the OSCE PA observer mission for early presidential elections in Ukraine Makis Voridis and the OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver.
Participants of the meeting discussed issues connected with future work of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the OSCE PA, and emphasized on events planned by the OSCE PA for 2014, particularly, on mission of observing Ukrainian presidential elections on May 25, 2014.
Special Co-ordinator of the short-term mission of observing Ukrainian presidential elections Joao Soares informed about activity of the special observer mission in Ukraine, stressing that the OSCE PA and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights received an invitation from Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Turchynov to participate in observer mission for early presidential elections in Ukraine. In words of Joao Soares, 100 long-term and 900 short-term observers are willing to participate in the abovementioned mission.
Chair of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the OSCE PA Oleh Zarubinskyi claimed that Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada highly appreciates actions of the OSCE PA aimed at observing elections in the OSCE member-states.
At the meeting, members of Ukrainian delegation stressed that they would apply all necessary measures to promote activity of international observers in order to continue fruitful cooperation between the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the OSCE PA during observing the elections in the OSCE member-states.